WEBVTT WE CONTINUE WITH MORE OF MY CONVERSATION WITH SUPREME COURT JUSTICE SONIA SOTOMAYOR. YOU’VE CORRELATED THE SORT OF HOSTILE TONE IN THE COUNTRY RIGHT NOW. AND WHAT THE RAND CEO AND PRESIDENT CALLS "TRUTH DECAY." WHERE SORT OF NO ONE AGREES TO A SET OF FACTS ANYMORE IT SEEMS TO A LACK OF CIVICS EDUCATION HOW DO YOU MAKE THAT CONNECTION? MS. SOTOMAYOR: I THINK MYSELF INCLUDED AND MOST PEOPLE MY AGE OR CLOSE TO IT DO REMEMBER STUDYING SOCIAL STUDIES. NOW THE PERCENTAGE OF CLASSROOM TIME DEVOTED TO SOCIAL STUDIES IS ABOUT 7 PERCENT THAT’S AT A HISTORIC LOW. WHAT HAPPENED? IF YOU LOOK AT THE HISTORY OF THE DECLINE OF SOCIAL STUDIES IN SCHOOLS ACROSS THE COUNTRY, YOU WILL START NOTICING THE RISE OF PARTISANSHIP AND THE DECREASE IN CIVIC PARTICIPATION. THE TWO ARE DIRECTLY CORRELATED IF PEOPLE DON’T UNDERSTAND THAT THEIR VOICE IS IMPORTANT, NOT JUST IN THE POLLING BOOTH BECAUSE THAT’S ONE ASPECT OF CIVIC PARTICIPATION THE OTHER IS IN EXPRESSING THEIR VIEWS ON ISSUES. SOLEDAD: THE TOP GOOGLE SEARCHES THIS PAST MIDTERM ELECTION WAS HOW TO VOTE AND HOW TO REGISTER TO VOTE. WHICH TO ME WAS LIKE A LITTLE LATE IN THE GAME PEOPLE. >> WERE ACTUALLY THINKING ABOUT DEVELOPING A GAME CALLED HOW TO VOTE. IT IS PRETTY SAD. FIFTY PERCENT OF THE POPULATION CAN’T NAME ONE SUPREME COURT JUSTICE. AND OF THAT 50 PERCENT WHO CAN NAME SOMEBODY IT’S NOT SOMEBODY CURRENTLY ON THE COURT. THURGOOD MARSHALL WAS ONE OF THE MORE POPULAR PICKS. SOLEDAD: YES. AND HE IS NO LONGER ON THE COURT. MS. SOTOMAYOR: AND 15 PERCENT OF THE POPULATION CAN NAME THE CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS THOSE ARE SAD STATISTICS. SOLEDAD: I REALLY WANT TO BANG MY HEAD INTO THIS TABLE THAT’S DEPRESSING. MS. SOTOMAYOR: WHAT’S A WORST STATISTIC OF ALL. ONE THIRD OF YOUNG PEOPLE BELIEVE DON’T BELIEVE THAT DEMOCRACY IS IMPORTANT IN THE UNITED STATES. THAT’S A SHOCKING FIGURE THAT IS MORE TROUBLING TO ME THAN ANYTHING ELSE. SOLEDAD: CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS WAS RESPONDING TO SOMETHING THAT THE PRESIDENT HAD SAID HE CALLED SOMEONE AN OBAMA JUDGE AND HE SAID THIS QUOTE WE DO NOT HAVE OBAMA JUDGES OR TRUMP JUDGES BUSH JUDGES OR CLINTON JUDGES. WE HAVE AN EXTRAORDINARY GROUP OF DEDICATED JUDGES DOING THEIR LEVEL BEST TO DO EQUAL RIGHT TO THOSE APPEARING BEFORE THEM. HOW DO YOU REMOVE POLITICS FROM SOMETHING THAT IS TEED UP POLITICALLY? MS. SOTOMAYOR: OUR FOUNDING FATHERS FIGURED IT OUT GIVE US LIFETIME TENURE. WE’RE NOT BEHOLDEN TO ANY PRESIDENT. NO PRESIDENT CAN REMOVE US FROM OFFICE IF THEY’RE UNHAPPY WITH THE WAY WE’RE VOTING. SOLEDAD: YOU RECENTLY WERE AT THE CAPITAL PAYING TRIBUTE TO JOHN MCCAIN. WHO DID NOT SUPPORT YOUR CONFIRMATION? MS. SOTOMAYOR: THAT IS ABSOLUTELY TRUE. SOLEDAD: AND A LOT OF PEOPLE WERE LIKE WHY GO? FOR SOMEONE WHO LITERALLY COULD NOT HAVE BEEN MORE CLEAR THAT HE DID NOT THINK YOU SHOULD BE A SUPREME COURT JUSTICE. MS. SOTOMAYOR: HE WAS A GREAT PATRIOT. AND HE WAS A WAR HERO AND HE SERVED OUR COUNTRY WITH ALL OF HIS BEING TIL THE VERY LAST BREATH HE TOOK. SO HOW COULD YOU NOT ADMIRE A PERSON LIKE THAT? SOLEDAD: SUPREME COURT JUSTICE SONIA SOTOMAYOR. SO NICE TO CHAT WITH Y

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Justice Sotomayor: Lack of Civics is Causing the Partisan Divide

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Updated: 5:14 PM CST Jan 4, 2019

The partisan divide between the general public and even elected officials seems to widen with each passing year. According to Justice Sonia Sotomayor, there’s a distinct connection between that divide and the decline in civics classes. She joins Soledad O’Brien to discuss the partisan divisions in the nation and on the Supreme Court.